Soul

According to Plato the individual soul is that part of the individual person which mirrors the one Universal soul and which exists before the birth of the physical body and continues to exist in itself alone after the death of the body. It will then be reborn in another body. The physical body is in fact a hindrance to the philosopher in that its requirements for food, clothing and physical pleasure prevent attention on the acquirement of knowledge and also it is an inaccurate observer through the senses. The soul, then, when it has as little to do with the body as possible is most near to having true existence revealed. It is the observer of the absolute qualities of justice, beauty and good. Lovers of wisdom should not then fear death as, unlike lovers of the body, of money or of power, it is after death that they will more nearly approach what they love.

A consequence of the fact that the soul is immortal is the need to care for matters which concern the soul in this life. Depending on how this life is lived a soul will be more or less able to deal with the next world, and will be reborn in fitting circumstances in this world.

Aristotle considered the soul to be the realization of the body, the means behind its purposeful activity, and he distinguished three types: nutritive or vegetative; sensitive or animal (capable of perceiving through the senses); rational or human. Christian teaching further develops both these concepts in conformity with immortality, individuality and personality. Descartes viewed soul as spirit manifesting in various states of consciousness, the body being material and extensional. Later views limit the soul/body interaction to a matter of feelings, desires and mental phenomena, excluding metaphysics; for example, Hume doubted the reality of soul since it cannot be derived from an empirical description of mental life. To some extent the concept of the soul has been replaced by that of the psyche or the ego. However, Jung used the expression "soul" to indicate the impenetrability of the psyche, when contrasting its depth, variety and plurality with any discernible pattern, order or meaning; and later analytical psychologists have used it to indicate a perspective which concentrates on depth imagery and the conversion by the psyche of events into experiences.